Dick Stafford's Rocket Dungeon Blog 
Rocket Dungeon Posts
Report from LDRS....6 (2009-03-15)
ZZakk's Lab has an interesting report from LDRS 6, which was held at Hartsell, Colorado in 1987. Dig them shades! [Read More]
Live Tweeting from LDRS (2009-07-02)Ack, I never thought I'd use that term. Anyway, Rocketry Planet is providing a feed of LDRS28-related Tweets. So far, I've been underwhelmed by Twitter but maybe this will prove interesting. Brett ... [Read More]
LDRS 28 - a mud bowl (2009-07-02)Rocketry Planet has posted more details on the first day of, er, flying. As Brett Keller reported via Twitter , the field conditions are terrible. Darrell has posted some photos, including the ... [Read More]
LDRS 28 photos (updated) (2009-07-04)I'm adding to this thread as new sources are found. The latest will be on top. (posted 7/11 12:22 AM ) And, although only Day 1 is currently listed, ROCKETS Magazine's albums should provide the best ... [Read More]
LDRS 28 coverage reminder (2009-07-07)I've continued to add links as I found them. More to come. Have some I missed? [Read More]
Things that make you say hmmmmmm (LDRS weirdness) (2010-03-26)I never thought I'd see this on an LDRS/TRA website. [Read More]
LDRS 29 day 1 report (2010-06-10)Truth is stranger than fiction. Jerry Irvine is apparently writing LDRS launch reports for Rocketry Planet - Day 1 of LDRS 29 sees high winds with little flying . Sound like everything but the ... [Read More]
LDRS 29 day 2 report (update) (2010-06-12)Rocketry Planet has a great report on day 2, including 3 slide shows and a video montage of people, places, and, more importantly, things (that means rockets, y'know). I attached a small ... [Read More]
F-104 and Klingon Battle Cruiser from LDRS (2010-06-12)DSC01818 , originally uploaded by GraceFamily . As mentioned in my earlier post. Click through to see the Flickr user's entire LDRS-29 album. [Read More]
LDRS 29 day 2/3 gap report (2010-06-13)Here's another small but nice album on Flickr. It includes shots of several big futuristic/sci-fi rockets. Looks like PunkRocketScience had a bad day - there is a shot of a badly crunched ... [Read More]
LDRS 29 day 3 (Saturday) photo album (2010-06-13)A reader sent me the link to their nice photo album from Saturday . Looks like the site was well protected by a Patriot battery. :D Was that Mythbuster Kari Byron that I s ... [Read More]
LDRS 29 day 3 report(s) (2010-06-13)Jerry Irvine's day 3 report is up over at Rocketry Planet. I'll add a link here when Neil posts his. Jerry's report Neil's report Highlights - Student's flying low and slow versions of famous ... [Read More]
LDRS 29 misc photos from various days (2010-06-14)While waiting for the day 4 reports (and maybe Neil's day 3)... TRF post packed with photos - Highlights: Interceptor-N both going up and down; Patriot battery with one hald way out of its tube; big ... [Read More]
LDRS 29 galleries at ROCKETS Magazine (2010-06-14)I noticed via Neil's Day 3 report that ROCKETS Magazine's galleries are being populated. They have some really great shots and I can tell their DVD will rock. I couldn't resist swiping ... [Read More]
LDRS 29 - J1999 drag race (2010-06-14)A bunch of rockets. A bunch of CATO's. Parts everywhere. [Read More]
LDRS 29 day 4 report(s) (2010-06-14)Neil McGilvray's report on day 4 is up on Rocketry Planet. This is the first day that Neil beat Jerry in the launch report drag race, so I don't know if Jerry going to submit one. If so, I'll add ... [Read More]
LDRS 29 day 5 - the first 'research' day (updated) (2010-06-15)No written report - yet - but You can read the Day-5 report AND the ROCKETS Magazine crew has uploaded a few photos from Day 5 . I think Neil said he was going to fly a huge single use motor ... [Read More]
LDRS-29 Day-6 stuff (2010-06-16)Well, you can stick a fork in LDRS-29. There is no report on the closing day yet, but ROCKETS Magazine does have a gallery . Also, it looks like the launch will be featured on the ... [Read More]
LDRS-29 from the blogger's eye view (2010-06-16)Fellow rocketry blogger Greg Smith attended and has a nice launch report . [Read More]
LDRS-29 - one reason to join Facebook (2010-06-17)When I first started Facebook, not many rocketry people/companies/orgs were there. In fact, I wanted to keep my Facebook account and my rocketry web presence separated so I didn't search any ... [Read More]
A big, bad LDRS-29 photo album (2010-06-27)Big because there are over 3000 photos. Bad because you have to wade through stuff like ~40 shots of the same 'chute in the sky. I gave up at page 30 when I found the one showing Mythbuster ... [Read More]
Fuzzy wuzzy (and other LDRS-29 rocket girls) (2010-07-10)Click through any of these to get to the source album. It's worth the time if you want more LDRS pics. An unknown RG. No comments please. DSC_9945a , originally uploaded by El Jefe Torcido . ... [Read More]
LDRS in (near) real time (2011-08-31)Bayourat Rocketry plans to document this year's LDRS. He'll try to broadcast live from Argonia but, if his cell service doesn't cooperate, he'll record a nightly show. Check out ... [Read More]
LDRS-30, Tiki Hut oddroc (2011-09-04)IMG_9720 , a photo by megram on Flickr. I had heard about this...er...rocket. Twitter user bayourat was involved and reports it won the oddroc competition. Want...more...details. (And a photo or ... [Read More]
LDRS-XXX, where are da photos? (2011-09-07)A few days ago, some nice photos began to show up on Flickr. Thanks to the owner's generosity, these were embeddable...and a couple were embedded. Then they stopped. Some nice ... [Read More]
More LDRS stuff (2011-09-07)Tap, tap, tap. I'm impatiently awaiting all the photos people have said are out there. Here are a few more LDRS items from here and there. There are certainly a lot more than this ... [Read More]
Neil's LDRS-XXX Cow (2011-09-10)Looks like it even recovered. Credit: Ray Lapanse . Click through for more shots. [Read More]
LDRS-XXX photo update (2011-09-13)I am still surprised how few photo galleries I've found. However, what's there is good! Ray LaPanse continues to populate his albums . And, ROCKETS Magazine has their mega-sized albums ... [Read More]
Video of 'P' motor CATO at LDRS (2011-09-16)Bayourat Aerospace and Rocketry has a video of the CATO of Troj's 'Insane Project'. That's an impressive array of rocket confetti and showering propellant! [Read More]
Mini-Nuke at LDRSS-XXX (2011-09-19)Thanks God it was a dud...parachute came out and everything. My kind of rocket. [Read More]
The history of LDRS...captured here (2012-06-27)Today, the Rocketaholic cross-posted Chris Pearson's history of LDRS on his blog (from Rocketry Planet under a Creative Commons License with Attribution). I have referred to the same article ... [Read More]
First LDRS-31 report (2012-07-13)At least, the first I've seen. DTH Rocket has posted a report on the first 2 days of LDRS-31 : My First LDRS -- First 2 launch days . I let you read the whole report but will swipe one ... [Read More]
More LDRS-31 (2012-07-23)Seems like the photo documentation has been slower coming this year. I haven't really scoured the Internet but will point out a few sources that I've run across. I may update the list and re-post as ... [Read More]
LDRS 31 on TV (2012-10-29)Just watched Discovery Science's LDRS 31 show . Some people have complained that it portrays we sport rocketeers as a bunch of yahoos who love to blow things up and don't care much for safety. That ... [Read More]
Interesting oddroc from LDRS 33 (2014-08-25)These came from Liberty Launch Systems/ROCKETS Magazine's LDRS-33 Saturday album . The rocket didn't seem to fly 100% straight but appeared to recover just fine. I'm hoping Neil will talk about it ... [Read More]
Launch Report 2017-2 - LDRS-36 (2017-04-08)It's hard to believe that LDRS was basically in my own backyard and I didn't register to fly. I did, however, traipse out to say hi to some rocket buddies and see a few flights. The weather was ... [Read More]
Rockets Mag V3 I5 Dec 2008 - the 'Black Rock Edition' (updated) (2008-12-20)I call it the Black Rock Edition because most of the enclosed material originated there: one article on the Rocket Mavericks July launch and three on Balls 17. Where else other than Black Rock will ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top 10 of 2008 (2008-12-23)All and all, 2008 was a momentous year here in the Dungeon. On a personal basis, it started poorly but ended on a high note. But, since this is a rocketry blog, my top 10 is limited to on-topic ... [Read More]
Easter rocket missile-any (2009-04-12)Dale Windsor's on-again, off-again model rocket motor history page is on-again . The LDRS-28 featured projects page is coming along nicely. No Polish rocket jokes, please...they've got a ... [Read More]
ROCKETS Magazine - April 2009 (2009-04-20)This issue features several articles about, or at least motivated by, the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. Besides the fact that we sport rocketeers are also space program fans, the tie-in to sport ... [Read More]
AeroTech announces the first three items in their new Karl E. Baumann Signature Product Line (2009-05-28)AeroTech Information Release 5/28/09 AeroTech Creates Karl E. Baumann Signature Product Line AeroTech is pleased to announce that it has created the Karl E. Baumann (KEB™) Signature L ... [Read More]
Video of my Level-2 flight (2009-06-09)I got my Level-2 at LDRS2000 outside Orangeburg, SC. My Great Googly Moogly flew on a J350 that was generously provided free by AeroTech. Recovery was controlled by a GWiz altimeter with motor ... [Read More]
Info on Dr. Rocket's modular aluminum rocket (2009-06-15)A while back, I posted about N-Power without epoxy? .One of the rockets I mentioned was Michael "Dr. Rocket" Reiner's modular aluminum rocket. I learned the following from Point 39 Productions video ... [Read More]
Interesting large cluster (2009-06-15)Here is Brian Weese's Purple Haze , which flew at LDRS XVII in the Bonneville Salt Flats back in August 1998. It flew on an H180 and 60 Estes 'C' motors arrayed along the entire body. It looked like ... [Read More]
Scary near miss and a lesson on cluster ignition (2009-06-18)This was a full scale SAAB that flew at LDRS 17 on a central M and four I's. The I's lit and lobbed the rocket off the pad. The M then ignited when it was oriented in the wrong direction. Lesson: ... [Read More]
Twitter disappoints, again (update) (2009-07-07)First, let me say that I appreciated Brett Keller's efforts to provide updates from LDRS 28 (his Tweets can be found here ). I enjoyed hearing some feedback from the field. So, this is only a ... [Read More]
Ooooh, 2 new rocket mags on the same day (2009-09-05)Woohoo, I got both the Sept/Oct Sport Rocketry (with NSL coverage) and the Aug ROCKETS Magazine (LDRS 28 issue) today. Reading and blog posting to ensue. But now I have to fiddle with my new ... [Read More]
ROCKETS Magazine, August 2009 (2009-09-05)Well, that was quick, eh? First, it turns out the rechargable trimmer was quick and easy to assemble, charge and use. Second, I haven't actually read the whole magazine. But, here goes anyway. I'll ... [Read More]
Sport Rocketry, September/October 2009 (2009-09-05)The three main features in this issue are the National Sport Launch, Team America Rocket Challenge and a tech article on building an electronics bay. I like the cover photo of the high power Jayhawk ... [Read More]
Interesting discussion: Sparkies to come under fire at NFPA: Who Made The G? (2010-01-24)A few days ago, Rocketry Planet published a great article regarding the coming meeting of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)'s Technical Committee on Pyrotechnics in Salt Lake City, ... [Read More]
M power the hard way (2010-01-24)Looking back at Chris Pearson's History of LDRS , I see a photo of a rocket that flew on 80 F40's. Assuming the existing AT F40 data , that's equivalent to a 6248M3032. [Read More]
Hump day rocketry vacuum (2010-06-09)Not much going on today in the Interwebs. I was kinda down about not being at LDRS, which starts tomorrow (or today if this post is slow). Should be interesting. I've heard about ... [Read More]
ViperLaunch (2010-06-13)ViperLaunch , originally uploaded by Mike (Sparky7) Jerauld . Cross posted for Verna and Randy. Click through to see more from TeamViper at LDRS-29 [Read More]
ROCKETS Magazine, June 2010 (2010-06-15)What's inside: Review of an Estes Saturn V complete with scale gantry; Pt. 5 of Black Magic Missile Work's electronics series; Rocket girl Haley Allen; Launch report from the Phoenix Missile Works ... [Read More]
Old launch photos/reports (2010-08-19)Here is my Grand Whazoo just prior to its maiden flight at a NARHAMS launch in Middeletown Park. I think I've posted this photo before but, since The Grand Whazoo just bit the dust, I thought ... [Read More]
ROCKETS Magazine, August 2010 - LDRS-29 Edition (2010-08-30)Hot off the presses, my copy arrived this afternoon. I immediately thumbed through it and then started reading the last article, which is about Cal-Poly's rocket-buildings. I took ... [Read More]
Armchair rocketman (2010-09-11)My knee's been bothering me and every time it starts to get better I seem to re-irritate it. So, no grass mowing or climbing down into the Dungeon today. Gotta get it ready for next ... [Read More]
Review of ROCKETS Magazine LDRS-29 DVD set (2010-09-12)The LDRS-29 video set is comprised of 4 DVDs, 2 with video and 2 containing a slideshow of over 4900 photos. The 2 hours video is shot in HD and has a Dolby-surround soundtrack. Both the ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top Ten of 2010 (updated) (2010-12-05)Here is my yearly recap of what I think was most significant in and around the Dungeon. As originally mentioned, I jumped the gun on posting the list. It's now 100% complete! In no ... [Read More]
Review - Great Googly Moogly (2010-12-19)The Great Googly Moogly is a 8" x 75" scratch built rocket that I used for my TRA Level 2 certification at LDRS 19 in Orangeburg, SC. However, I began building it almost a year earlier, before even ... [Read More]
Starship Enterprises rocket history (2011-01-13)Starship Enterprises was a manufacturer of some interesting kits. In January 2001, the company changed names to Fat Cat Rockets. Best as I remember, both entities were owned and operated ... [Read More]
Review: Ringer (2011-01-16)This is a ring-fin design that flies on 29mm motors. It uses several unique components: a poured foam, yarn wrapped cone and an engine bell built from Aquapod water bottles. The body is a 3" window ... [Read More]
Mega Review: Motors (2011-01-24)Here are my motor reviews from EMRR. AeroTech G77R (updated!) AeroTech G79W (updated!) Quest D5-0 Plugged Ellis Mountain SU J110 (out-of-production) Ellis Mountain SU J228 (out-of-production) ... [Read More]
XXX (2011-01-24)First shalt thou build. Then, shalt thou count to XXX. No more. No less. XXX shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be XXX. XXXI shalt thou not count, neither ... [Read More]
Rocket Videos: Tape v. DVD (2011-01-26)This post describes the Point 39 Productions LDRS XIX (on VHS tape) and the ROCKETS Magazine/Liberty Launch Systems Red Glare IV (on DVD) videos. Point 39 Productions - LDRS XIX Ever since ... [Read More]
Yarn wrapped cone experiment - results (2011-08-01)The pluses - It looks like a usable cone. It's nice and sparkly in the sun (better live than in the photo). The minuses - It's not perfectly uniform. The surface is not smooth. ... [Read More]
Big a$$ project of the day - Wildman & Crazy Jim's "Flying Circus" 2011 (2011-08-19)"Wildman" Tim Lehr and "Crazy" Jim Hendricksen are known for their extreme projects. In a TRF thread , Tim presents one of his LDRS projects, a 12" diameter, minimum diameter, 'Mega" pro ... [Read More]
Insane Project (and insane CATO) (2011-09-07)Ray Lapanse has just started posting photos. He currently only has photos of Troj's Insane Project flying and CATOing on a 'P' motor. The album will be worth visiting again over the next few weeks. ... [Read More]
A cool polyhedric rocket (2011-09-15)[Via Ray LaPanse ] [Read More]
Launch Report 2011-6 (2011-09-17)Location: Central Sod Farm, Centreville, MD ( MDRA ESL-160) Weather: cloudy, high 60s, wind ~5 MPH Total flights: Today - 4; YTD - 52 Total motors: Today - 4; YTD - 67 The day started poorly with ... [Read More]
Fat Crayon bank dreams...or nightmares (2011-09-20)I'm starting to think about what I'm going to do with the 28" long, 5.875" dia. Crayon bank that Skycopp gave me. I want to do something out of the ordinary. So, what else is new? The ... [Read More]
New Tripoli Research rules (2011-12-02)Via an email list, Alan Whitmore (Prefect, Tripoli East NC), announced that Tripoli will be rolling out a new 'research' safety code. The details are sketchy, but it sounds like this will ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars and interesting links (2012-02-03)Mavericks, Paton Group, and Inspirtech to open 5 Space Education Research Center s, ROL - "The Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation, The Paton Group, and Inspirtech LLC today announce the ... [Read More]
ROCKETS Magazine, February 2012 (V6I6) (2012-04-05)This issue was dedicated to LDRS-30 and nuttin' but LDRS-30. Good to see the issues flowing again. 'Nuff said! [Read More]
"In the words of Crazy Jim - "Let the mayhem, chaos and carnage begin!"" (2012-07-15)That pretty much described today's L900 Dark Matter drag race at LDRS. My "Gone to Plaid" (Ludicrous Speed's badder brother) is the rocket on the right just taking off from the pads - Tile, ... [Read More]
When snowmobiles fly (2012-07-15)Here's a photo of Crazy Jim's snowmobile at LDRS. At least it sounded like the up part went well. Photo credit: Stan Senesy. [Read More]
I am 75% happy today (2012-07-17)I don't know if that's exactly accurate, but I just got back from Facebook, where I saw where some guy flew three 'N' flights at LDRS. For an hour or two my rockets will feel inadequate. ... [Read More]
The saying is no longer "when pigs fly"...it's now "when pigs land (softly)" (2012-07-19)Here's a recovery video of the Cajun Coalition's Cochon (aka Pig Rocket). Beau is still teasing us and holding back the launch segment. My wife said the Cochon should have bees stuffed with actual ... [Read More]
Launch Report 2012-9 (2012-07-28)Location: Central Sod Farm, Centreville, MD MDRA ESL-170) Weather: clear, 90's, wind 0-5 mph Total flights: Today - 8; YTD - 74 Total motors: Today - 9; YTD - 89 Motors by class YTD: ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top-10 for 2012 (2012-12-22)I see Chris Michielssen posted his top ten for 2012. So, I see no reason to wait to post mine: 1. Space Shuttle Discovery buzzes Washington DC . 2. Discovery and Enterprise nose-to-nose at ... [Read More]
ROCKETS Magazine's LDRS p0rn issue is in da' house (2013-01-29)This issue covers, LDRS XXXI, LDRS XXXI and nuttin' but LDRS XXXI. I've enjoyed they eye candy but haven't read it yet. I noted lots of cool oddrocs that didn't make the Discovery show. ... [Read More]
We lost another good one, Ken Kzak is gone (2014-01-26)I just saw a sad post over on ZZakk's Lab . On December 21, Ken suffered a fatal motorcycle accident. I only knew him from the web but will miss our discussions. Ken was an innovator in may things ... [Read More]
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